Football game device



May 15, 1951 J. J. WARREN FooTBALL GAME DEVICE Filed Jan. 31, 1946 Patented May 15, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FOOTBALL GAME DEVICE Joseph J. Warren, Cleveland, Ohio Application January 31, 1946, Serial No. 644,568

1 Claim. l

My invention relates to a football game and relates more particularly to a football game adapted to be played upon a playingboard, and a ball adapted to be catapulted over such board and adapted to come to' rest in prescribed spaces upon such board.

It particularly relates to an improvement in the football game shown in my Letters Patent No. 1,922,904. In the game shown in the aforementioned patent, a ball propelling mechanism is movable over the boardand forms the oifensive team. Plays are executed by placing a ball in the ball propelling mechanism and projecting the ball therefrom onto the playing field. Interception of the plays of the offensive teamA are effected by a defensive team composed oi characters which are slideably mounted upon a frame disposed transversely of the playing field.

It is an object of my present invention to provide an improvement over the football game covered by the aforesaid Letters Patent wherein the ball propelling mechanism may be securely affixed to the board and not interfere with the playing field area, and improved mechanism may be provided for realistically effecting passes and kicks.

A further' object of niy invention is to provide an improved football game which will be' simple in operation, composed of but relatively few moving' parts, inexpensive in manufacture,` and most eective in use.

Another object of my' invention is to provide an improved football game wherein ample scope is provided for' the Simulation ofthe actual playing tactics of a regulation football game with virtually all of the gains, penalties, chance and skill involved therein.

Other objects of my invention and the invention itself will hereinafter become more apparent to those skilled in the particular art to which my invention appertains' by reference to the following description and drawings accompanying the same, in which drawings-1 Fig. 1 is a top plan View' of a game board constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional View taken on the line 2 2 of Fig'. l;

Fig. 3 is a sectional View taken on the line 3;-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the mounting for the hinged platform of Fig. 1, the View being partially broken away to show the same morev clearly;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawings, in all ofl which like parts are designated by like reference characters, I0 designates the playing board which is laid out as a miniature vfootball field having longitudinally extending lines I-l l which form the side lines of the playing field and transversely extending lines I2 which form thel ve yard markers of the field. At the left hand sides ofthe lines I2', the numerals" 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35,i 40, etc., appear. At the end Zone I3, the board is elevated, as best shown in Fig'. 2', and thus' an incline is provided whicha ball orinarker I4, interposed in a longitudinally extending' raceway ldisposed at the right hand side of thevv playing field, is adapted to traverse'.

'The ball I4, as shown in Fig. 1, is spring-propelled, the said spring I6 being telescoped over a plunger I1 and seating upon an enlarged head I8 thereof and against the raised outer edge I9 of the board. Said plunger is provided with a handle 20 and. when the handle is manually retracted and then released, the stem is reciprocably movable within the end portion of the raceway I5 and exerts a projectile force to the ball I 4 causing the same to traverse the raceway I5 and ascend the incline. When the ball reaches the upper portion of the incline, a deiiector 2l formed by a narrow metallic band secured at one end to the outer rim of the incline, as at 22, and slightly bent at its free end 23, prevents the ball from simply following the edge of the incline and deects the same onto the playing field.

Transversely of the said e'ld and preferably integrally joined to the inclined surface i3, as best shown in Fig. 2, a' preferably' conc'avely formed playing surface 24 is provided with a series= of transversely aligned depressions 25. Adjacent the right hand edge of said surface 24, a second delector means 26 is disposed adapted to act upon any ball which may come in contact therewith. The said deflector 26 is secured to the longitudinally extending upstanding side wall II which, together with another side wall of substantially equal length 2'I, joined thereto, as at 31, forms a relatively long and narrow space adapted' to receive a yard measure 28 upon which the position of the playing teams is recorded at all times after each play by means of a point 29 manually operable and slideably mounted, as shown in Fig. 3, upon the wall II.

Adjacent the playing surface 24 and disposed intermediately of the playing eld, an intermeupon a pair of rods 3| and 32, as shown, is adapted to be raised or lowered, as best illustrated in Fig. 2, by means of a handle 33 forming an extension of the rod 32 and bent upwardly at a 45 angle thereto.

Associated with said handle and securely mounted on the outer side of the edge l i', forming the left hand' side line of the field, is a metallic clamp v3l! preferably notched, as shown in Fig. 1 at 35, to form locking engagement with the handle when it is desired to tiltably raise the central portion of the field to the inclined position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2. Disposed on either side of the movable portion 30 of the field are substantially square sections S' and S in which two pair of aligned depressions are located.

The main playing section X of the field is divided into a series of` zones by the yard lines l2 and each of these zones adjacent said linesare provided with a plurality of openings or depressions 60 in one of which the ball when rolled across the playing surface may come to rest.

In order to obstruct the free passage further of the ball over the section Xv of the playing eld, characters are provided which represent the de` fensive team in a football game. The offensive team, it will be obvious, is represented by the ball in play.

The defensive teams characters are represented by seven front line players 36, a pair of half backs 31, backs 38, and the end players at either end of the frontline players are detachably secured in slots in their forwardmost position and adapted, when desired, to be shifted to the slots 39 disposed centrally and rearwardly of the backs which presents Yan advantage when it is desired to block the opposing playerspasses or kicks, so delivered over the inclined platform portionY 30. Y

A pair of goal posts` are preferably disposed as at "2 for accomplishing theV extra point after a touchdown and a pair of similar goal posts may be positioned as at w for the purpose of making a field goal. o At the end of the field, the last series of circular openings 42 in the end zone are surrounded on their sides and rearmost portions by circularly notched portions 4I provided inV a rectangular r end plate "y. It will be Ynoted that additional yardage indicia 45, 50, 55, 60, 65,

'70, "'15, 80, and "85 in the openings 42 are employed.

The various rows of depressions or openings, -60, 42,k etc., in the different zones ofthe playing surface are staggered in relation to those of the adjacentrows to addy to the skill required in the game.

Also, certain of the depressions in all rows, with the exception'of the end row, are suitably inscribed with indicia such as F, C and fI,

.to indicate the progress of the ball when the same falls in any of such marked openings. F indicatesY a fumble; and C and I represent complete or incomplete passes.

Beneath certain of the openings marked 1,

a further number, such as 10, 15,205 25,

.certain depressions on the field in the row inr front Yof the first Yrow of defensive players,-thev 4 numerals 5-, "10- appear, to indicate loss of yardage on the play. Various colors might also be employed for indicating the play. It will thus be seen that all of the probabilities of actual play are provided for in my game.

In operation, the marker 29 is placed on the l0-yard line to begin the play and the hinged platform 30 is raised for the kick-off which is effected by one player placing a ball I4 in the raceway adjacent the lend of the plunger, retracting the handle 20 and allowing the same to snap back against the ball by the action of the spring, the head of the plunger l1 hitting the ballV with sumcient force to send the same into the inclined end z'one I3, thus placing the ball inposition, according to its speed, to be projected over the platform 30 and over Ythe heads of some of the defensive players, as shown in Fig. 2, onto the playing field and into an opening or depression in one' of the zones of play.

- When the ball comes to rest, Vthe Zone character at the left'of the yard lines indicates the length of the kick and the ball is returned to its initial position in the raceway forrthe second play and thehinged platform 30 lowered to a line with the remaining field. Y Y

As in actual football, the player representin the offensive team endeavors to make successive first downs and to achieve a touchdown, as Vrecorded by G or goal on the measure 28 at either end thereof. Upon failure to make a first down the ball passes to the opposing player andV is placed in motion in like manner. In the event of an off-side play, turned to the position of the previous down, five-yard penalty imposed.,

It will be noted that my invention by means of the hinged portion 30 permits the exercise of judgment as to the proper play,l whether the the bali is rewith same be a line playas effected by loweringthe fensive players, or kicking as'on fourth down by raising the portion 30;

The defensive team also has a choice in its defense formation as the ends may be moved to the rearmost position 39 as hereinbefore described to aid in blocking a pass or kick.

When passing, the ball must come to rest in either an opening marked C or 1, and is either complete or incomplete laccording to its rest position.

While I have shown propelling means for catapulting the ball along araceway, up onto the'inclined end I3 against a deflector 2l, it is to be understood that the ball might be projected onto the eld and over the platform 30, whether level vwith the rest of the field 0r linclined with respect thereto, by any preferred means without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Other and numerous departures might furtherV be made without departing from the spirit of my invention and the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A football game device of the type whereina ball is catapulted over a playing field, comprising a playing eld having a level and horizontally disposed playing surface and an inclined surface, said playing surface being divided into sections and lined to indicate yardage markers, each section having a plurality of ball'receiving 'depressions therein some of which are provided with indicia and means hingedly secured to said playing surface and adjacent the inclined surface, said means being adapted to lie flush as an eX- tension of said playing surface or adapted to be locked in an angularly disposed position with respect to said level playing surface and with re spect to said inclined surface, for obstructing the travel of a ball When desired for directing said ball toward certain sections of said playing surface.

JOSEPH J. WARREN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 517,715 Woebs Apr. 3, 1894 Number Number- 

